“When he started his campaign, only four countries were spending their 2% of GDP,” the shadow foreign secretary said. “The number was 10 by the time he left office. And it’s 6 p.m. today.”
In a message to concerned diplomats, Lammy said: “I say to my European friends: don’t personalize this. Doing more is what Americans are demanding, whoever wins.
Charm offensive
Lammy is in Washington for two days of meetings with top Democrats, as well as Trump allies including JD Vance, Elbridge Colby and Fred Fleitz. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is also on his list, as Lammy seeks to forge closer ties with the GOP in case the center-left Labor Party defeats the conservatives and the former president returns to the White House.
Lammy – who has already received praise from some Trump allies – also expects to meet US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
His latest comments about Trump mark a decisive break from a wave of attacks on the top Republican in the past. In 2017, Lammy wrote on Twitter that Trump was “a racist sympathizer of the KKK and Nazis” and pledged to oppose a visit to the UK by the then-president.
In 2018, Lammy said that “Trump’s threats against NATO and the UN make no more sense than arson.” And in 2019, he called Trump a “misogynist” who seemed to represent “horrible white supremacy.”
Sam Blewett contributed reporting.
Politices
